Core for yarn packages



Jet. 29. 1940. k c DUNLAP v I 2,219,836

CORE FOR YARN PACKAGES Original Filed Jam 7, 1938 cores fabricated-of paper and fashionedinto Patented Oct. 29, 1940 coma roaYAnu rAcKAGEs Charles K; Dunlap, Hartsville, S. 0., assignor to Sonoco Products Company, Hartsville, S. corporation of South Carolina r Continuation of'application Serial'No. 183,888," January I, 1938.'This application January 4,

1940, Serial no. 312,428

' 2 Claims (omit-122') This application is a continuation of my copending application Serial No. l83,888,"filed Jan. 7 193 .r

' This invention relates tocores for supporting packages orwindings of yarn or threadand 'per- .I

most of'the artiflclal threads woven intoftextiles 'tains particularlyto yarn or thread- Supporting tubu'lar, for'm, either cylindrical or conicalr The paper core for thread or yarnpackages' or cops has been in the recent pastvery-widely' used throughout the textile industry, forming a most economical, lightweight, strong and eflicient means for the support of suchpackages'as, the yarn is'fed therefrom into'knitting, weaving, warping, or'other'machines. Changes in the ma-,

terials employed in the fabrication of textile fabrics and thespeeding up of various processes of or relating to fabric manufacture have from time to time resulted in the provision of new and improved yarn package supporting-cores and a number of such cores have heretoforebeen designed and suggested as being particularly useful in meeting special conditions existing in 'the'textile industry. v

The increasing demand for textile fabrics manufactured of thread of artificialnatur'e has given rise to problems heretofore not met with by the textile worker and likewise the present-day tendency in all textile plants to make use of machinery which operates at substantially higher speeds {than corresponding machinery heretofore employed again creates a condition-which points 'to the desirability of further improvementsin the yarn handling and supporting means employed. For instance warp forming apparatus is now coming into popular favor by'means of which warps are wound upon warping beams atspeeds heretofore never considered practical and it is likewise becoming common practice to'form warps of extreme length, each warp thread comprisingseverallengthy thread units the ends of which are tied' together.

In practicing continuous high-speed warping, "inwhich process a large number of threads are simultaneously withdrawn from thread packages mounted upon a creel, there are two thread packages on the creel for each warp thread passing on e to the warping beam. The trailingend of the thread of the packages from which: the thread is actually being withdrawn is tied to the leading end of the thread of a second adjacent thread package so that, when the thread of the first package runs out, unwinding'of the thread on the second or full package immediately begins, there thus being no interruption in the warping processing silk or rayon yarns or other yams of.

however, cannot be effected when there 2 arewide variations in tension in the various ing to the beam;-

threads pass- It is' well known to thoseskllled in the art. that are made up of many smallyextremely. fine individual strandssand are rather fragile easily frayed and rather-easily broken. The same is true of silk and it isrknownthat the problems incident to the handling of silk yarn and yarn 10 of artificial origin, such as rayon are quite different from [those involved in the handling-of wool, cott'on, and other similar yarnsnFor instance it is most "diiilcult to maintain. a-package or'winding of silk or rayon on the ordinarypaper, core and I have heretofore suggested that thread packages of rayon','-silk, and the :like may advantageously be mounted upon; paper. cores, the surfaces of which were rendered velvety, or napped, by grinding or abrading' the papersurface so as to cause the surface filamentsor fibers to be raised from the body of the core: and to extend outwardly; A thread core of the type just described is disclosed in my Patent No.-l,634,492,

granted July 5, 1927. Thistype'of core has proven to be eminently helpful inthe handling of silk and rayon-like threads, preventing slipp e of v the inner windings -:of the packages upon the s.

surfaces of the cores and yet eliminating all danger of fraying or breakageiof the, thread as itis withdrawn axially of the core. Numerous other types of surfaces are known to besatisfactory in one respectyi. e., in preventing slippage of yarn packages, but notin other respects, forinstanoe causing fraying of the yarn, or;-actual breakage, as it is withdrawn, yarns which aresilk-like, such as rayon, being most easily frayed or broken by i any slight projection orprotuberance" from the surface of a supportingcore. 1 0

The particularobjectof the present invention 4 is to provide an improved type of-paper thread core which,*while of general utility, in, the textile art, isparticularly helpful to those engaged in this character and particularly where, asin the case'of'high-speed continuous warping, the velocity ofthe thread as it is unwound from the supporting core'is relatively great and where it is highly essential that the tension in ;the delivered yarn 'be'maintained' as uniform as possible at all times, even though thepackages are ffmagazinedf i; e., the trailing end of one package tied to the leading end of a second package to obtain a continuous feed; 'In its preferred cumferential zones adjacent the "ends of the core.

form m'y improved yarn core partakes of the nature of the core previously patented in that certain portions of its thread receiving surface are provided with a velvety nap but, instead of providing this nap over the entirethread receiving surface, it is confined to certain bands or cir- Thatfportion of the thread receiving surface which lies intermediate thesei'two end zones or bands is left'smooth, or may be even made smooth if, as originally fabricated, it'is somewhat rough. The thread package is so'wound upon this core that its ends overlie and rest upon'the velvety encircling bands toward; the ends of the core, whereas the entire mid-section of the'core rests upon the smooth intermediate portion of the thread receiving surface-a surface so, smooth that, it offers very little opposition to the free sliding of threads over it. It is clear that, during the winding operation the end loops of the helical 3 thread or yarn windings, i. e., the reversely curved I portions of these ,windings which. are caused or brought vabout by the reversal of thetraversing element of the winding machine :from which the -13 and i4 and indicated "inthe drawing. -'li'hese thread is :moving onto ,the core, overlie the zones zones are of such character that'theyretain against slipping and back rolling the end loops mentioned thus'making it possible to lay the initial windings on the supporting core in a perfect manner.

With the improved core: the;yarn package is maintained in position by reason of the engagement of its ends with the circumferentially extendingzones or bands of. velvety nap but the major portion of the inner surface of the yarn winding rests upon thesmooth surface of the core, as previously explained. -When the yarn is withdrawn from a package mounted upon a core of the type just described, there is no difference in tension to benoticed'until the last few layers are being: withdrawn and here the tensionv increases slightly. However, due to the fact'that the thread or yarn is being removed from a surface which islargely quite smooth the increase in tensfion is' considerably less than it .would be "if the yarn were being'removedv from a core the entire surface-of whichhad been'given increased thread retaining, capacity, or which embodied areas of increased thread retaining capacity intermediate the end zones. Furthermore the tens'ion existing in the thread being withdrawn is more uniform whenthe improved'core is used. a

' Thus when'the'entire surface of the core is .the

same'so 'far as its yarn -retaining characteristic is concerned considerable variations in tension of the yam being removed-from the lastfew layers are observed because of the'fact that the end loops offer less-resistance to removal than the intermediate portions. By placing the end loops upon the zones of relatively high thread retair ing capacity, however, the tension required toremove the'end loops is caused to approximate that necessary to remove the helicalwinding lengths t which lie between the end zones. It is highly advantageous-to eliminate these tensional varia- "tions' as well as to lower the average tension.

f'lensio'n which must necessarily be exerted upon 4'. yarn winding to withdrawits last few layers from the surface of a core su'chas now proposed is very'appreciably less by actual measurement than the tension required to withdraw thelast few windings from a. core' having a nap over'its entire thread receiving surface, as suggested in my prior patent, and hence the present'core is more suitable for use in processes such as con- 7 tinuous high-speed warping, than cores constructed in the manner suggested previously.

Warping at lower speeds is of course improved by the use of the core described and likewise yarn may be fed more satisfactorily to knitting, weaving and other textile machlneswith the improved results which follow from more uniform tension. 7

Likewise the improved core may be fabricated at less cost. This follows from the fact that, as.

less of its paper wall is ground away or abraded in. manufacture,'less papermay be used in its fabrication, i. e., the blanks from which it is made are smaller than the blanks from which the, earlier type of paper cone are made, for cones of the ;same strength and service-ability. Further the apparatus employed in the manufacture of the cone may be less expensive and there is less dust' hazard involved. Finally, the improved cone has the added and important. advantage that it will absorb less oil from the yarn and less water from the atmosphere than the core of my earlier patent, the smooth surface of the present core intermediate the napped bands, being ,much .more resistant to the penetrationof both oil and water. a

The improved core may be fabricated in various waysand likewise may be varied somewhat in its details of construction without departure from, the invention.- For instance, the core encircling zones or'bands .may be created by encircling the core with bands of an adhesive substance andapplying to the bands of adhesive, while the adhesive is wet, a-fibrous substance such as ground wood fiber, this fiber adhering to the surface of the coreand forming the desired thread retaining nap,after drying of. the adhesive. '3 1 In the accompanying drawing one embodiment of the invention is disclosed and will be now more particularly described;

In'the drawing: 7 1. c t

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a preferred form of the improved yarncore, partly broken away,

the outline of portion of a thread package being indicated'in chainlines; and;

. Figure-2 is a view; showing ratherdiagrammatically two yarn packages disposed with relation to, each other in the approximate positions which they occupy in magazine creeling or high-" speed: warping, one package having been run out save fora 'few remaining windings or layers-of thread and the other package being as yet completeorfull.

While the improved thread core maybe cylindrical it will be in most cases fabricated-in the form of a cone, such as illustrated-in the drawing. Asa preliminary step the semi-circular paper blank iscut from apaper web, this blank being then coated'upon one or both sides with a remainder wood fiber. The paper is preferably used in the. form in which it is taken from the forming machine and, if one side is rough, as for instance when it is formed upon a loosely woven cloth, this roughened side is turned inside so that theexterior surface of the completed core is smooth. I may employ other is indicated at his then preferablysinturneda'nd The softer-the paper, the longer:th'enap which 'maybe raised by abrasion or grindingiand hence in some instances a reiativelyhard dense pa maybepref-erred to a verysoft paper a l The small-end of the corethus formed, which polished, as indicated at H, andwa notch" I2 is formed in its edge atthe larger end. The wall of the core may be two or more plies in thickness depending upon the nature of the paper used but in any event the core must' embody a sufficient number of plies or convolutions to ensure that it has sumcient mechanical strength.

After being thus formed, the core is allowed to dry and, when fully dried, is subjected to a grinding operation. In this operation two bands or circular zones indicated at ii and I4, respectively, are subjected to the action of grinding belts, grinding wheels, or equivalent apparatus, so that the natural smoothness of the surface is destroyed and replaced by a soft velvety nap which comprises outwardly projecting filaments or fibers of the paper. The widths of the two bands l3 and Il may be varied but, generally speaking,

' these bands are made as narrow as possible, it

and then carried through the notch II. in wellbeing only necessary that they be sufiiciently wide to receive and underlie the end portions of the yarn package. As previously stated, the end loops should overlie the end zones and the end zones likewise are preferably sumcient in area to prevent shpping of the package on the core. The inner windings of the thread applied to the core after it has been thus completed are illustrated rather diagrammatically in Figure 2 and it a will be seen from this figure and also from Figure 1 that it is only the ends of these inner layers which overlie the nappedsurfaces l3 and H, the main bulk of the thread resting upon the smooth surface of the core intermediate the zones II and i4. a v

Prior to winding, an end of the thread, which is indicated at i6, is secured to the inner face of the core by means of a sticker, as indicated at H,

known manner so thatthis end ofthe yarn may be readily found at any time thereafter. The winding or package may be of any desired size and yarn of any character may be wound upon the core. Yarns which are-notoriously most difiicult .to handle,'however, such as rayon 'or other artificial yarn, and silk, are firmly supported when in package form upon the improvedcore,

/ there being no danger of. slippage ofthe package when the ends thereof overliethe rigpped ;a'ones l3 and I4. The'yarn package so n onntedmay vbe readily unwound, being withdrawn initially of the core in the customary manner: and even the last few windings or layers of yarn may be withdrawn quite freely, with butslight increase in tension. This follows from the fact that only a small portion of the last layers of. yarn are withdrawn from the napped surfaces I land It and the major portionis withdrawn without any substantial resistance from the intermediate smooth section It. Likewise, as pointed outpreviously, notonly is theaverage tension reduced in amount, but fluctuations in, tension are minimized so that the yarn may be fed to knitting,

particularly. useful: in continuous high-speed :warping. In practicing this process of warping sthreadipackages are' disposedupon a creel in IG'ofthe thread :wound on the package first to be .used, which package is indicated at A, is released from the holding member orsticker ll of the'associated supporting cone and is tied tothe a full package mounted: upon a similar core. When package A completely runs'out, package B is then unwound and of course, to maintainthe operation continuousfor a further time, afresh package is placed where package A was formerly located and its leading end connected to the trailing end of package B, etc.

From four hundred to seven hundred yards of yarn are removed by a high-speed creeling beam, per minute, and at this rate of consumption the average thread package will only last from one to three hours. Hence the'yarn "runs out" on one or the other of each pair of associated. packages rather frequently. Inasmuch as it is highly essential to continued high-speed operation that there 'be no breaks at anytime, and also vital that there shall be no substantial variations in tension, cores of the type described are of particular usefulness when employed in such a process. As has been previously pointed out, there is much less fraying of the delicate fibrous yarn when it is rapidlywithdrawn from a core of the type described than when withdrawn from any other type of cone known to me, a'nd'thev yarn goes to the warping beam in better condition. There is less wastage of material, less stoppage of the warping process and in general great economies'are effected in time and cost where cores of the type shown and described are made use of.

'. Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired tobe secured by Letters Patent is: i

1. A supporting core for a yarncop or package comprising a tubular member fabricated of paper the exterior surfaceof which is adapted to be engaged by the innermost windings of a yarn package, said yarn engaging or receiving surface being in part smooth so as to provide little frictional resistance to the slippage of yarn thereover leading endof the. thread of thread package B,

ed on the core, the zones being of sufficient width,

measured longitudinally of the core, to receive and retain against slipping and rolling the end loops of 'the innermost thread windings of a thread package when the winding of a package is begun and to facilitate unwinding of the package by increasing the amount of tension required to remove the end loops so that it approximates that which is necessary to remove the intermediate lengths from the smooth surface of the core,

thereby tending to render moreconstant the ten-- sion in the thread during removal of the innermost windings, the average tension required to remove these windings from the core being less than that' which is necessary when the entire thread receiving surface is provided with a thread retaining nap.

2.'A supporting core for a yarn cop or package comprising atubularmember the exterior surface of which is adapted "to be engaged by the innermost windim of a yarn package, said en-' gagind or receiving suri'ace'being in partamooth so to provide little frictional resistancetothe 5 areas or the'surface of the core which lie within slippage of yarn thereover but including-two spaced core encircling zones located, respectively. I

at opposite ends of an intermediate smooth surface and in position to underlie'the end portions oi a yarn package mounted onthe core, those said zones being formed to receive andretain against slipping and rolling the end loops of the facilitate unwinding'of the package by increasing the amount of tension required to removethe end I loops so that it approximates that which is necessar'y to remove the intermediate lengths'from the smooth surface of the core, thereby tendingto "render more constantthe tension inthe thread during removal, from the core; of the innermost windings thereof.

CHARLES {K. DUNLAP. 

